Blood Upon the Risers
by Brenna
Summary: Teal'c didn't look too happy about jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. I can't imagine Jack not teasing him about that.


Jack looked over his shoulder to the point several meters back where Teal'c trudged through the deep snow. 'The big guy still looks a little green around the gills,' he thought to himself. Teal'c had been less than thrilled at the idea of jumping out of the plane, and it looked like his opinion of parachuting hadn't improved any. Jack looked back a second time as an idea began to form. It was so rare for Teal'c to be affected by anything that Jack decided he just couldn't let it go without having a little harmless fun at his friend's expense.

It took Jack a minute to dredge up the words of the song he remembered his uncle used to sing on while sitting on the porch drinking with his war buddies. He started the song off softly, but by the end of the first chorus Jack was belting out the song for all he was worth.

"Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
And he ain't gonna jump no more!"

"Jack," Daniel admonished from his place behind Teal'c.

Jack ignored him and continued to sing, "'Is everybody happy!' cried the sergeant looking up, Our here meekly answered, 'Yes' and then they stood him up. He leaped right out into the blast, his static line unhooked..."

"Jack!" Daniel hissed. "Quit it."

O'Neill's song took on new volume as he sang, "And he ain't gonna jump no more!"

From her place in the rear, Carter looked like she was trying valiantly to suppress her laughter.

"Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
And he ain't gonna jump no more!"

Their Russian guide, Dr. Markov, kept her amusement fairly well hidden as well, but her eyes twinkled with merriment.

"He counted loud, He counted long,  
He waited for the shock.  
He felt the wind, he felt the cold, he felt that awful drop.  
The silk from his reserve fell out and wrapped about his legs,  
And he ain't gonna jump no more!"

"What is this song?" Teal'c asked as Jack continued to ignore Daniel's entreaties to cease and desist.

"The risers wrapped around his neck,  
Connectors cracked his dome,  
Suspension lines were tied in knots around his skinny bones.  
His canopy became a shroud as he hurtled to the ground,  
And he ain't gonna jump no more!"

"It's a song from World War II, Teal'c" Carter informed her teammate. "It was sung by paratroopers, soldiers trained to parachute into battle behind enemy lines. It's a marching song."

"Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
And he ain't gonna jump no more!"

"It's called 'black humor', Teal'c" Daniel explained. "It's a sub-genre of comedy and satire where topics and events that are usually treated seriously - death, mass murder, sickness, madness, terror, drug abuse, rape, war - are treated as humor."

"The days he lived and loved and laughed kept running through his mind,  
He thought about the girl back home, the one he'd left behind.  
He thought about the Medics and he wondered what they'd find,  
And he ain't gonna jump no more!"

"I do not understand this," Teal'c told his teammates.

"Some humans feel it is better in times of stress to laugh over such rather than cry," Svetlana offered. "This is especially true in military organizations where crying is seen as a sign of weakness."

"The ambulance was on the spot and jeeps were running wild,  
The Medics jumped and screamed with glee, rolled up their sleeves and smiled.  
For it had been a week or so since last a chute had failed,  
And he ain't gonna jump no more!"

"He hit the ground with the sound of 'SPLAT'  
The blood went spurting high,  
His comrades were heard to say: "What a helluva way to die"  
He lay there rolling around in all the welter of his gore,  
And he ain't gonna jump no more!"

Jack felt Teal'c's attention on him as he continued to sing. This time as he sang the chorus, Carter joined in as well.

"Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
And he ain't gonna jump no more!"

"There was blood upon the risers,  
There was brains upon his chute,  
Intestines were a-danglin' from his Paratrooper's suit.  
They poured him from his helmet and poured him from his boots,  
And he ain't gonna jump no more!"

"Beautiful streamer please open for me,  
Blue skies above me and no canopy.  
I counted ten thousand, waited too long,  
reached for my ripcord the handle was gone."

"Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
And he ain't gonna jump no more!"

"I can't believe you're singing an Army hymn, Jack" Daniel commented when he finally trailed into silence.

"My uncle was in the 82nd Airborne, Daniel" Jack told him. "I learned it from him."

"This is not an Air Force song," Svetlana asked, "but it speaks of parachuting."

"It was written before the U.S. Air Force was formed," Carter informed her. "Back then it was still the Army Air Corp."

"We still have another four kilometers to go," Svetlana informed them after checking their position on the map.

She folded the map and returned it to the pocket of her parka, then set out down towards their destination.

Jack shrugged and as he followed began to sing again.

"Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!  
And he ain't gonna jump no more!"

"Do you know any other songs, Jack?" Daniel demanded.

Jack broke off his song. "Sure, Daniel" he agreed, but the smirk on his face told the archaeologist he probably shouldn't have asked.

"Bo Diddly, Bo Diddly,  
Have you heard,  
We're gonna jump from a big iron bird."

"Jack!" Daniel protested. 


End file.
